NVIDIA: Difference between revisions

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{{Note|<code>hardware.graphics.enable</code> was named <code>hardware.opengl.enable</code> '''until NixOS 24.11'''.}}

{{Note|Since driver version 560, you also will need to decide whether to use the open-source or proprietary modules by setting the <code>hardware.nvidia.open</code> option to either <code>true</code> or <code>false</code> respectively. Open-source kernel modules are preferred over and planned to steadily replace proprietary modules<ref>https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/nvidia-transitions-fully-towards-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/</ref>, although they only support GPUs of the Turing architecture or newer (from GeForce RTX 20 series and GeForce GTX 16 series onwards). Data center GPUs starting from Grace Hopper or Blackwall must use open-source modules — proprietary modules are no longer supported. ''If you're using proprietary modules'', make sure to allow [[Unfree software|unfree software]]. The unfree NVIDIA packages include nvidia-x11, nvidia-settings, and nvidia-persistenced.

{{Note|Since driver version 560, you also will need to decide whether to use the open-source or proprietary modules by setting the <code>hardware.nvidia.open</code> option to either <code>true</code> or <code>false</code> respectively. Open-source kernel modules are preferred over and planned to steadily replace proprietary modules<ref>https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/nvidia-transitions-fully-towards-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/</ref>, although they only support GPUs of the Turing architecture or newer (from GeForce RTX 20 series and GeForce GTX 16 series onwards). Data center GPUs starting from Grace Hopper or Blackwall must use open-source modules — proprietary modules are no longer supported. ''If you're using proprietary modules'', make sure to allow [[Unfree software|unfree software]]. The unfree NVIDIA packages include <code>nvidia-x11</code>, <code>nvidia-settings</code>, and <code>nvidia-persistenced</code>.

}}{{file|configuration.nix|nix|<nowiki>

}}{{Warning|If you use a laptop with both dedicated and integrated GPUs, remember to [[Nvidia#Hybrid_graphics_with_PRIME|configure PRIME]] in order to make your dedicated NVIDIA GPU work properly with your integrated GPU. Your configuration '''might not work''' if you skip this step.}}{{file|configuration.nix|nix|<nowiki>

{

hardware.graphics.enable = true;

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hardware.nvidia.open = true; # Set to false for proprietary drivers

}

</nowiki>}}{{Warning|If you use a laptop with both dedicated and integrated GPUs, you need to [[Nvidia#Hybrid_graphics_with_PRIME|configure PRIME]] in order to make your dedicated NVIDIA GPU work properly with your integrated GPU. Your configuration '''may not work''' if you skip this step.}}

</nowiki>}}

==== Legacy branches ====

GPUs of the Kepler architecture or older (most GeForce 600/700/800M cards and older) are no longer supported by latest proprietary modules. ~~Users~~ of these GPUs must use legacy branches ~~of proprietary modules~~ that may still receive updates, as long as the GPUs themselves remain supported by NVIDIA. You can find which legacy branch you need to use by searching for your GPU model on [https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/unix/legacy-gpu/ NVIDIA's official legacy driver support list].

GPUs of the Kepler architecture or older (most GeForce 600/700/800M cards and older) are no longer supported by latest proprietary modules. Instead, users of these GPUs must use legacy branches that may still receive updates, as long as the GPUs themselves remain supported by NVIDIA. You can find which legacy branch you need to use by searching for your GPU model on [https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/unix/legacy-gpu/ NVIDIA's official legacy driver support list].

To use legacy branches, you need to set the <code>hardware.nvidia.package</code> option to a package set named <code>config.boot.kernelPackages.nvidiaPackages.legacy_<branch></code>.{{file|configuration.nix|nix|<nowiki>

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Laptops often feature both an integrated GPU (iGPU) and a dedicated GPU (dGPU) in order to strive a balance between performance and power consumption — while the dGPU is used for performance-intensive tasks such as gaming, video editing, 3D rendering, compute jobs, etc., the iGPU can be used to render common 2D elements like application windows and the desktop environment.

PRIME, therefore is a technology developed to facilitate the cooperation between the two GPUs and is critical for the laptop's graphical performance. Depending on your needs, you can configure PRIME in one of three modes, which have different tradeoffs in terms of performance and battery life.

PRIME, therefore, is a technology developed to facilitate the cooperation between the two GPUs and is critical for the laptop's graphical performance. Depending on your needs, you can configure PRIME in one of three modes, which have different tradeoffs in terms of performance and battery life.

==== Common setup ====

All PRIME configurations require setting the PCI bus IDs of the two GPUs. One easy way to do find their IDs is by running <code>lspci</code> from the <code>pciutils</code> package and then finding devices that are classified as VGA controllers. After double checking that the listed devices are indeed your integrated and dedicated GPUs, you can then find the PCI IDs at the beginning of each line. Exact results may vary, but an example output might look like:<syntaxhighlight lang="console">

All PRIME configurations require setting the PCI bus IDs of the two GPUs. One easy way to do find their IDs is by running <code>lspci</code> from the <code>pciutils</code> package, and then finding devices that are classified as VGA controllers. After double checking that the listed devices are indeed your integrated and dedicated GPUs, you can then find the PCI IDs at the beginning of each line. Exact results may vary, but an example output might look like:<syntaxhighlight lang="console">

$ nix shell nixpkgs#pciutils -c "lspci" | grep "VGA"

0000:00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation TigerLake-H GT1 [UHD Graphics] (rev 01)

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}

</nowiki>}}

~~=== Other settings ===~~

== Tips and tricks ==

=== Check nixos-hardware ===

~~You should check the~~ [https://github.com/NixOS/nixos-hardware nixos-hardware] ~~GitHub repository~~. It is possible that someone already wrote a hardware configuration for your device and that usually takes care of drivers. If so, follow the upstream documentation to enable the required modules.

The [https://github.com/NixOS/nixos-hardware nixos-hardware] project attempts to provide configurations that address specific hardware quirks for different devices. It is possible that someone already wrote a hardware configuration for your device and that usually takes care of drivers. If so, follow the upstream documentation to enable the required modules.

=== Multiple boot configurations ===

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{{file|/etc/nixos/nvidia.nix|nix|<nowiki>

package = config.boot.kernelPackages.nvidiaPackages.mkDriver {

{ config, ... }:

{

hardware.nvidia.package = config.boot.kernelPackages.nvidiaPackages.mkDriver {

version = "555.58.02";

sha256_64bit = "sha256-xctt4TPRlOJ6r5S54h5W6PT6/3Zy2R4ASNFPu8TSHKM=";

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persistencedSha256 = lib.fakeSha256;

};

</nowiki>}}

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=== Booting to text mode ===

If you encounter the problem of booting to text mode you might try adding the ~~Nvidia~~ kernel module manually with:

If you encounter the problem of booting to text mode you might try adding the NVIDIA kernel module manually with:

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<code>powerManagement.enable = true</code> can sometimes fix this, but is itself unstable and is known to cause suspend issues.

If you have a modern ~~Nvidia~~ GPU (Turing [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_(microarchitecture)#Products_using_Turing] or later), you may also want to investigate the <code>hardware.nvidia.powerManagement.finegrained</code> option: [https://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/460.73.01/README/dynamicpowermanagement.html]

If you have a modern NVIDIA GPU (Turing [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_(microarchitecture)#Products_using_Turing] or later), you may also want to investigate the <code>hardware.nvidia.powerManagement.finegrained</code> option: [https://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/460.73.01/README/dynamicpowermanagement.html]

=== Black screen or 'nothing works' on laptops ===

The kernel module<code>i915</code>for Intel or<code>amdgpu</code>for AMD may interfere with the ~~Nvidia~~ driver. This may result in a black screen when switching to the virtual terminal, or when exiting the X session. A possible workaround is to disable the integrated GPU by blacklisting the module, using the following configuration option (see also [https://discourse.nixos.org/t/nvidia-gpu-and-i915-kernel-module/21307/3]):

The kernel module<code>i915</code>for Intel or<code>amdgpu</code>for AMD may interfere with the NVIDIA driver. This may result in a black screen when switching to the virtual terminal, or when exiting the X session. A possible workaround is to disable the integrated GPU by blacklisting the module, using the following configuration option (see also [https://discourse.nixos.org/t/nvidia-gpu-and-i915-kernel-module/21307/3]):

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 {{Note|<code>hardware.graphics.enable</code> was named <code>hardware.opengl.enable</code> '''until NixOS 24.11'''.}}
-{{Note|Since driver version 560, you also will need to decide whether to use the open-source or proprietary modules by setting the <code>hardware.nvidia.open</code> option to either <code>true</code> or <code>false</code> respectively.<br><br>Open-source kernel modules are preferred over and planned to steadily replace proprietary modules<ref>https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/nvidia-transitions-fully-towards-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/</ref>, although they only support GPUs of the Turing architecture or newer (from GeForce RTX 20 series and GeForce GTX 16 series onwards). Data center GPUs starting from Grace Hopper or Blackwall must use open-source modules — proprietary modules are no longer supported.<br><br>''If you're using proprietary modules'', make sure to allow [[Unfree software|unfree software]]. The unfree NVIDIA packages include nvidia-x11, nvidia-settings, and nvidia-persistenced.
+{{Note|Since driver version 560, you also will need to decide whether to use the open-source or proprietary modules by setting the <code>hardware.nvidia.open</code> option to either <code>true</code> or <code>false</code> respectively.<br><br>Open-source kernel modules are preferred over and planned to steadily replace proprietary modules<ref>https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/nvidia-transitions-fully-towards-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/</ref>, although they only support GPUs of the Turing architecture or newer (from GeForce RTX 20 series and GeForce GTX 16 series onwards). Data center GPUs starting from Grace Hopper or Blackwall must use open-source modules — proprietary modules are no longer supported.<br><br>''If you're using proprietary modules'', make sure to allow [[Unfree software|unfree software]]. The unfree NVIDIA packages include <code>nvidia-x11</code>, <code>nvidia-settings</code>, and <code>nvidia-persistenced</code>.
-}}{{file|configuration.nix|nix|<nowiki>
+}}{{Warning|If you use a laptop with both dedicated and integrated GPUs, remember to [[Nvidia#Hybrid_graphics_with_PRIME|configure PRIME]] in order to make your dedicated NVIDIA GPU work properly with your integrated GPU. Your configuration '''might not work''' if you skip this step.}}{{file|configuration.nix|nix|<nowiki>
 {
    hardware.graphics.enable = true;
@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
    hardware.nvidia.open = true; # Set to false for proprietary drivers
 }
-</nowiki>}}{{Warning|If you use a laptop with both dedicated and integrated GPUs, you need to [[Nvidia#Hybrid_graphics_with_PRIME|configure PRIME]] in order to make your dedicated NVIDIA GPU work properly with your integrated GPU. Your configuration '''may not work''' if you skip this step.}}
+</nowiki>}}
 ==== Legacy branches ====
-GPUs of the Kepler architecture or older (most GeForce 600/700/800M cards and older) are no longer supported by latest proprietary modules. Users of these GPUs must use legacy branches of proprietary modules that may still receive updates, as long as the GPUs themselves remain supported by NVIDIA. You can find which legacy branch you need to use by searching for your GPU model on [https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/unix/legacy-gpu/ NVIDIA's official legacy driver support list].
+GPUs of the Kepler architecture or older (most GeForce 600/700/800M cards and older) are no longer supported by latest proprietary modules. Instead, users of these GPUs must use legacy branches that may still receive updates, as long as the GPUs themselves remain supported by NVIDIA. You can find which legacy branch you need to use by searching for your GPU model on [https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/unix/legacy-gpu/ NVIDIA's official legacy driver support list].
 To use legacy branches, you need to set the <code>hardware.nvidia.package</code> option to a package set named <code>config.boot.kernelPackages.nvidiaPackages.legacy_<branch></code>.{{file|configuration.nix|nix|<nowiki>
@@ Line 61: / Line 60: @@
 Laptops often feature both an integrated GPU (iGPU) and a dedicated GPU (dGPU) in order to strive a balance between performance and power consumption — while the dGPU is used for performance-intensive tasks such as gaming, video editing, 3D rendering, compute jobs, etc., the iGPU can be used to render common 2D elements like application windows and the desktop environment.
-PRIME, therefore is a technology developed to facilitate the cooperation between the two GPUs and is critical for the laptop's graphical performance. Depending on your needs, you can configure PRIME in one of three modes, which have different tradeoffs in terms of performance and battery life.
+PRIME, therefore, is a technology developed to facilitate the cooperation between the two GPUs and is critical for the laptop's graphical performance. Depending on your needs, you can configure PRIME in one of three modes, which have different tradeoffs in terms of performance and battery life.
 ==== Common setup ====
-All PRIME configurations require setting the PCI bus IDs of the two GPUs. One easy way to do find their IDs is by running <code>lspci</code> from the <code>pciutils</code> package and then finding devices that are classified as VGA controllers. After double checking that the listed devices are indeed your integrated and dedicated GPUs, you can then find the PCI IDs at the beginning of each line. Exact results may vary, but an example output might look like:<syntaxhighlight lang="console">
+All PRIME configurations require setting the PCI bus IDs of the two GPUs. One easy way to do find their IDs is by running <code>lspci</code> from the <code>pciutils</code> package, and then finding devices that are classified as VGA controllers. After double checking that the listed devices are indeed your integrated and dedicated GPUs, you can then find the PCI IDs at the beginning of each line. Exact results may vary, but an example output might look like:<syntaxhighlight lang="console">
 $ nix shell nixpkgs#pciutils -c "lspci" | grep "VGA"
 :00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation TigerLake-H GT1 [UHD Graphics] (rev 01)
@@ Line 135: / Line 134: @@
 }
 </nowiki>}}
-=== Other settings ===
 == Tips and tricks ==
 === Check nixos-hardware ===
-You should check the [https://github.com/NixOS/nixos-hardware nixos-hardware] GitHub repository. It is possible that someone already wrote a hardware configuration for your device and that usually takes care of drivers. If so, follow the upstream documentation to enable the required modules.
+The [https://github.com/NixOS/nixos-hardware nixos-hardware] project attempts to provide configurations that address specific hardware quirks for different devices. It is possible that someone already wrote a hardware configuration for your device and that usually takes care of drivers. If so, follow the upstream documentation to enable the required modules.
 === Multiple boot configurations ===
@@ Line 182: / Line 179: @@
 {{file|/etc/nixos/nvidia.nix|nix|<nowiki>
-   package = config.boot.kernelPackages.nvidiaPackages.mkDriver {
+{ config, ... }:
+{
+   hardware.nvidia.package = config.boot.kernelPackages.nvidiaPackages.mkDriver {
      version = "555.58.02";
      sha256_64bit = "sha256-xctt4TPRlOJ6r5S54h5W6PT6/3Zy2R4ASNFPu8TSHKM=";
@@ Line 190: / Line 189: @@
      persistencedSha256 = lib.fakeSha256;
    };
+};
 </nowiki>}}
@@ Line 203: / Line 203: @@
 === Booting to text mode ===
-If you encounter the problem of booting to text mode you might try adding the Nvidia kernel module manually with:
+If you encounter the problem of booting to text mode you might try adding the NVIDIA kernel module manually with:
 <syntaxHighlight lang="nix">
@@ Line 230: / Line 230: @@
 <code>powerManagement.enable = true</code> can sometimes fix this, but is itself unstable and is known to cause suspend issues.
-If you have a modern Nvidia GPU (Turing [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_(microarchitecture)#Products_using_Turing] or later), you may also want to investigate the <code>hardware.nvidia.powerManagement.finegrained</code> option: [https://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/460.73.01/README/dynamicpowermanagement.html]
+If you have a modern NVIDIA GPU (Turing [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_(microarchitecture)#Products_using_Turing] or later), you may also want to investigate the <code>hardware.nvidia.powerManagement.finegrained</code> option: [https://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/460.73.01/README/dynamicpowermanagement.html]
 === Black screen or 'nothing works' on laptops ===
-The kernel module<code>i915</code>for Intel or<code>amdgpu</code>for AMD may interfere with the Nvidia driver. This may result in a black screen when switching to the virtual terminal, or when exiting the X session. A possible workaround is to disable the integrated GPU by blacklisting the module, using the following configuration option (see also [https://discourse.nixos.org/t/nvidia-gpu-and-i915-kernel-module/21307/3]):
+The kernel module<code>i915</code>for Intel or<code>amdgpu</code>for AMD may interfere with the NVIDIA driver. This may result in a black screen when switching to the virtual terminal, or when exiting the X session. A possible workaround is to disable the integrated GPU by blacklisting the module, using the following configuration option (see also [https://discourse.nixos.org/t/nvidia-gpu-and-i915-kernel-module/21307/3]):
 <syntaxHighlight lang="nix">